


Full circle

by Starwood



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Age Difference, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Armitage Hux Has Issues, F/M, First Love, Gen, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2019-07-25 18:15:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16202954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starwood/pseuds/Starwood
Summary: A crush: someone whom you find attractive and you don't know why.  You think of that person all the time and sometimes dream about them.  Their face, their voice makes you mad and you get weird sensations on seeing them.What if your crush is a general in the First Order, what lengths do you go to try win their love?This is my first fan fic, and attempt at writing full stop.....





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

 

Warmth brushed his face as a light gust of outside air followed the girl as she almost swung the rickety door off its hinges. A soft smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he watched his latest patron deftly stalk her way through the dimly lit cantina to the high counter where he stood. She nodded and smiled to a few of his regular customers as she weaved her way through the tables, getting some gruff grunts of acknowledgement from the older ones and toothy grins from some others. He knew she was safe here, having long ago made sure everyone who visited his cantina knew what the rules were when it came to the friendly young woman..... _hell, the countertop still held the imprint of the teeth from the last guy to disrespect her, two of those teeth were still sitting at the bottom of his tips jar._

“Murt, I’d die for a Ganju berry blaster!” she chirped at him while sliding into one of the chairs in front of the counter and flashing him a wide smirk.

“Well you haven’t yet kiddo, despite all of ‘hem you’ve had me make for ya”, rolling his eyes as he placed the glass he’d been polishing on the shelf behind him and flashing her a grin in response.

“It’s been quiet in here without you kiddo” he said as he tipped the berries into the juicer.

“Yeah, yeah I know Murt....I’ve missed not coming to see ya too, I’ve just been really busy with that careers project stuff that Ms. Chirpa wants back in 2 cycles, it takes sooo long to find good stuff on the holonet” sighing and resting her head on top of her folded arms on the counter so she could watch him mix the drink. She’d stayed the night before with her best friend Ana while they worked together on the project, Murt had known where she was of course but she knew he worried about her all the same and she sent the older man a fond smile as she thought of how much he cared for her.

Watching him shake the tumblers of bright red liquid, her eyes briefly flicked up to the data screen in the corner behind him noticing a flash of something else either orange or red there among the rows and rows of white Stormtrooper uniforms. It looked like The First Order were having another passing out parade or some similar shindig, she had to hand it to their PR people it always looked impressive. Idly switching her eyes between watching Murt prepare her drink and the screen she asked “any chance we could get some sound?”.

“nah, sorry baby girl, that scumbag Plint took out the speakers last brawl we had in here” Murt replied with a scowl, “looks like the General is off on one of his rants again tho’ “

Looking back up at the screen a black uniformed man appeared to be delivering an impassioned speech to the troopers. She was transfixed by the pair of sea-green eyes that seemed to drill right into her inner essence and made her heart leap a little within her chest. He wasn’t attractive like the boyish flyboys with their roguish wits and twinkling eyes that normally passed through the space port, no this man was altogether different from them, he seemed aloof and deliciously dangerous, his pale stern face and piercing eyes sending a strange little shiver down along her back to her lower belly. Q’tira realised that her mouth was beginning to feel a bit dry and must have been gaping open this entire time.... _embarrassing!_

“Thanks Murt, who’s the guy?” she asked as he slid her drink in front of her and she reached forward to take a large gulp of the sweet yet tart concoction.

“That my dear, is General Hux of the First Order, and a right piece he is too from the stories I’ve heard”. Q’tira couldn’t help but hear the scorn in Murt’s voice as he told her who the man was.

“Awww don’t be too hard on him, he just looks like he needs a good hug”

“Ya were always too soft for your own good doll, that guy needs more than just a hug” Murt mumbled as he started to serve another customer.

Murt missed her smile as Q’tira mused that the redhead was someone she wouldn’t mind giving more than just a hug to, no she wouldn’t mind it one little bit......

 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

‘Thank the Maker Ana, that’s it we’re finished, it’s gone!’ Q’tira turned to the other girl as she hit the send button on her datapad. Despite working on their shared project for most of the night cycle they’d just managed to get it in before the deadline that Ms. Chripa had set. _Mind you_ , they had spent a sizeable chunk of that time gossiping over the latest flyboys to pass through the space port as they braided each other’s hair and listened to music on the floor of Ana’s room.

‘So...fancy some Takei wings girl?’, Ana was always up for snacks even though none of what she ate ever seemed to stick to her lithe frame, something Q’tira envied her friend for.

‘Yeah, I could eat....fiery galaxy dip yeah?   _Oooh_ , and some of that new flaky bread they just added to the menu’.

Ana hummed in agreement as she placed the order via com-call. That new bread was totally delish she thought as she slowly rolled her shoulders trying to relive some of the tightness that sat there, remembering how they’d polished off a whole supersize portion of it within minutes the other day.

‘Need me to do something for ya there Ana?’ as her friend noticed the tell-tale sign of too many hours spent hunched over the datapad.

‘Yes please Ti, would you’ sending a grateful smile to her best friend, they’d known each other since they’d first sat beside each other the first day of school and had been thick as thieves since.

Ana lay down on top of her bed and rolled over onto her belly affording Ti full access to her back and shoulders. Resting her head down so she could cast one eye over her shoulder to catch sight of her friend, Ana sighed as she lost herself to the relaxation that came with the shoulder massage Ti was giving.  ‘You really do have magic hands you know’ Ana said before she let out a low moan when Ti released a particularly tight knot from her upper back.

“Yeah I’ve heard it said a few times before” Q’tira chuckled in response “mainly from you and Murt tho’, although I think you guys are a bit biased”, flashing a grin that Ana spied as glanced over her shoulder.

“Well, we just know a quality touch when we feel it honey” Ana giggled with her friend joining in until they both jumped in fright at the loud buzz of Ana’s door-com.   ‘Maker, that scared me half to death’ Q’tira huffed as Ana got up to collect their food from the delivery droid.

Soon both girls sat facing each other crossed-legged on the floor chatting between mouthfuls of food.  “So now that we’ve gotten that project out of the way Ms. Chripa is gonna want us to start making a final decision on our career choice for graduation right?” Q’tira asked looking up from her dip-messy hands to eye her friend.

“That’s what the term schedule said alright” Ana replied as she tore another bite of juicy meat from the wing in her hands. “Do you know what you’re gonna pick yet?”

“I’m not sure Ana, I keep changing my mind about it all, how about you?”

Ana looked up as she shrugged “work as an order fulfiller or shipment manifest scheduler down at the yards I guess”. Both of Ana’s parents worked fairly high up at the Kuat Drive Yards and could easily help her land a job there, Q’tira too if she wanted. Q’tira knew the Yards offered security and a clear career path for two relatively smart girls like her and Ana, but she couldn’t help thinking that she’d be selling herself short if she settled for that life, lately she’d felt a strong draw to the stars, to see the galaxy and wondered if there was something bigger she was meant to contribute to.

“I know it’d probably be the smart option for me Ana but I can’t seem to shake this feeling that I’m meant to be somewhere else, I want to see some of the galaxy before I decide”.

Ana nodded in response, of the two of them her friend was always the more adventurous one, the one who somehow managed to get in trouble way more, maybe that was the product of growing up with just a foster father who had filled her head with stories from his old smuggling days.  “Well, so long as you don’t run off with the First Order, I’d worry about you way too much”

_The First Order.....now there was an idea, get to see some of the galaxy on someone else’s credit, and if she was lucky maybe run into that cute general....mental note to self – check for the next First Order recruiting day period._   Q’tira smiled softly as she secretly thought her friend always came up with the best ideas and wondered how she’d maybe have to break the news that she was indeed running off with the First Order.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 

Shrill buzzing roused Q’tira from her slumber, still groggy and heavy lidded from far too few hours sleep she reached out, aimlessly banging down on the locker top to find the Chrono that lay somewhere on top and switch it to snooze.  As she settled back into her warm bed covers and groggy state she vaguely recalled her dream of being enveloped by strong arms and held tightly as warm lips danced along the side of her neck…... _hmmm, she could imagine being held like this by her general_ …. _kriff...the General…time to get up….she had way too much to do this morning._

Within moments, she was up and out of the modest dwelling she shared with Murt at the back of the cantina. She’d dressed a bit more formally than normal, not too much so, but it would still be enough to prompt some awkward questions from Murt, questions she didn’t really feel up to answering today, hence the incentive to get out before he woke.

 

She had a lot of chores to get to before the recruiting desk opened and began planning in her mind the running order she’d do them in as she hurried down to the space dock. Two galactic months ago, the day after she and Ana had submitted their careers project, Q’tira had done some research of her own and discovered that the First Order recruitment programme would be holding an event down at the dock. She’d marked the day on her personal calendar and eagerly counted down the days to the event…and her birthday…. _19 today…join the First Order today…happy birthday to me!_

 _First things first though_ , she needed to take receipt of the regular liquor supply order for the cantina, Murt had let her take care of this since that time she’d spotted that the supplier was trying to short-supply him of a crate of Corellian Whiskey, said she paid attention to the little details more than he ever could.

“That all looks to be in order Smithie, we’ll let you know the details of the next shipment as soon as we can ok” she called to the well-built man as he already began to close the ramp of the transporter and held up his hand to her in farewell.  Shortly after she was finishing up by thanking the docker who’d just helped her connect the hover-loader to the delivery droid and programmed the directions back to the cantina. With any luck the droid would get the order back to the cantina just as Murt would be opening the place up. _Ok job one down_ ….Q’tira thought as she raced up along one side of the dock towards the direction of the yards, ducking between the dock hands, pilots and other workers who were now becoming more numerous on the dockside.

 _Hoomph_ …..she’d badly miscalculated her dodging of that last human obstacle and felt herself blindly grabbing onto said obstacle as they both tumbled to the ground.

“Stars…I’m so sorry...totally wasn’t watching where I was going…are you alright?” she stammered while scrapping herself up from the dirty dock to stand while examining the other female who was dressed in a smart dark grey trousers and jacket. Thankfully she seemed to have landed somewhat on top of Q’tira when they both fell and didn’t make as much contact with the dirty dock.

“I am a little winded and blown over I’ll admit….but quite alright young lady” she assured with a slight smile, running her eyes over the teen who’d just barged into her, bowled her over and scattered her documents loose from the file-holders.

They both bent over at the same time to grab the papers before they were lost on the updrafts from the passing transports and ships, the older lady jerking her head back up just in time to prevent herself smacking skulls with the young girl…. _Galaxies…she seemed well-meaning but could this girl be any more clumsy?_ ……

“Oh, I notice from your outfit that you’re with the First Order, here for the recruitment event?” Q’tira asked. The older brunette nodded in confirmation “Yes, I was just going to look for some caf before I met with the others to set up”.   

“Well in that case, head in that direction and tell the blonde bartender that Q’tira sent you, he’ll sort you out with some amazing caf” she grinned as she pointed the _officer?_ in the direction of Murt’s cantina. Papers gathered and handed back to the older lady, she bade her farewell with “I might see you later then, I’ll be dropping into the event in a while” as she waved and started to race off again.

 _Let’s hope the rest of today isn’t quite as eventful_ Moira thought as she made her way along the direction the girl had said.

The younger female was busy for the next few hours, and was just wrapping up her last errand taking down the details for a special order for Kuat Drive Yards as she wrapped up a meeting with their events scheduler. They were organising a large new products showcase event for clients and distributors later in the year and wanted to treat their guests well. This order would really help make this Murt’s most profitable year and she was keen to get it wrapped up and in the bag before she’d ship out with the First Order.

 _Finally_ …..she had gotten all her errands for the day done and was able to head down to the docks again to where she knew the Recruitment desks would be set up. She’d cleaned up her clothes earlier after she’d railroaded that officer to the ground but decided to take some time for some last minute touch-ups. As she glanced at herself in the mirror and finished applying some bright pink lipstain Q'tira took a deep breath and wished herself luck. _Hopefully she wouldn’t be rejected or get that officer as her recruiter, although maybe it might be good if she’d made an impression already…..well we’ll see what happens girl._

 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

The lines of hopeful recruits were still long as Q’tira picked one and stood in line behind a taller brunette. Tapping the brunette on the elbow she asked ‘Ummm hi, are the lines moving fast, how long have you been here?’

The brunette turned to look at who was trying to attract her attention, ‘Oh hi, I don’t know sorry, I’d only joined the queue a few minutes ago but hopefully they’re moving along. Someone said the lines were a lot longer earlier’ as she winked at the other girl. ‘I think I might have seen you around here a few times before, I sometimes come down here to see what pieces of old tech I can pick up for free’ she asked.  ‘Could have, I usually do the delivery receipts for my foster father, he owns the cantina just ‘round the corner’ Q’tira replied.

They continued to chat as they both waited in line, shuffling forward a few steps every now and again. Q’tira learned that the other girl was called Phileo, which she hated by the way, she was 2 years older than her, had a passion for taking tech apart to see how things worked and try fix them up again, she wanted to be a Tech specialist or Radar technician with the Order as Phileo called it. Q’tira told her a little about herself and the things she got up to with Ana, Murt and the cantina and some of the funny stories that Murt would tell about his younger days.

Soon their line was nearing the desks where the recruiters sat taking details and interviewing potential recruits. They saw that it looked like they were about to open another desk … _guess it’s getting late and they want to wrap this up_ Q’tira thought. One of the stewards organising the lines pointed at Q’tira and shouted ‘you, top of a new line’ as he pointed to the as yet unoccupied desk.

Whispering goodbye and good luck to Phileo as she gave her hand a light squeeze, Q’tira made her way over to the desk to stand patiently for the recruiter to set up. She hadn’t been nervous up to now but with no-one to talk to they began to hit her full on…… _what if they don’t think I’m good enough_ and other thoughts churned in her mind.

The sound of a throat clearing started her from her wandering thoughts, Q’tira hadn’t even noticed that the recruiter had sat down at the desk and was looking at her with interest. Focusing on the face in front of her Q’tira realised it was the officer from earlier, ‘Oh hello, did you get your caf ? Again I’m really sorry for bumping into you earlier’ as a slight blush stained her cheeks.

Moira nodded ‘Yes I did dearie, best caf I’ve had in a while actually, and don’t worry about earlier these things happen every now and then’ she said warmly. ‘So what can I do for you today?’

‘I’m here to join up please and help bring order to the galaxy. In fact I’d really like to work with General Hux if that’s at all possible’ .… _nothing ventured nothing gained_ ….thought Q’tira as she winked and tried to read the woman’s reaction.

 _Well now that was a first….no-one had every asked her if they could voluntarily work with that ginger terror Hux before….what was going through this girl’s mind???_    ‘You look quite young dear, what age are you?’

Straightening up her shoulders Q’tira replied  ’19 standard years, actually it’s my birthday today’.  ‘Oh, happy birthday dearie, you look young for your age’ Moira smiled at the teen.

‘Ok let me level with you alright….the General’s staff are mainly all officers, he only picks the highest performing graduates from the Academy’ she said as she watched the young girl’s eager face slowly form an unhappy frown in understanding.

‘Is there any job at all that I could do as part of his team?  I’d literally scrub his boots or clean his toilet if it came down to it?’ the teen turned doe-wide dewy eyes up to the older woman as her lip gave a little quiver.  ‘There, there…don’t cry now…how about I take a look in the system and see if there is anything I might have missed’ Moira soothed as she patted the teens hand gently.

Scrolling through the staff repertoire of a commanding officer Moira noted that the lowest rank position of Relaxation Companion remained unfilled,  _well no surprise there really….who in their right mind would want to go near the uptight pompous General, must less try to help him relax…_ That thought alone made Moria want to shiver a little from the unpleasantness of it all.. _..oh right…this naive young girl on the verge of tears who was standing in front of her….not to mention the connotations that Relaxation Companion suggested!_ her brow furrowed as she decided whether to mention it or not.

‘Pleeease, I’d do anything’ the teen pled with hopeful eyes. 

Moira relented, the girl was old enough to make her own decisions after all & maybe she’d change her mind once she told her the job  ‘Ummm….there is one here….I don’t know if you’d be interested…..Relaxation Assistant’ Moira slowly told her, thinking that Assistant sounded better than Companion and slowing looking up to the girl’s face through her lashes. She couldn’t help but find the young woman somewhat endearing and sweet in her innocent enthusiasm.

She could see the teen think about it for a split second before clapping her hands and grinning happily  ‘Yes I’ll take that please, my friends always tell me I give the best back massages’.

‘Ýou’re completely sure now?  I hear that these commanding officers can get really stressed and then take it out on their staff’ Moira tried to quell her somewhat guilty conscious.

‘Yes, 100% certain, besides if I’m doing my job correctly the General shouldn’t be feeling stressed should he!’  Q’tira exclaimed resolutely as she almost bounced on the spot with happiness.

‘Ok, well then let’s get some details from you for the system, get you enlisted and assign your designation number’. Reacting to her blank expression, Moira told Q’tira that non-officer staff in the First Order were referred to by their designation number rather than their names.

Moira went through the enlistment form on her datapad with the teen, entering all the necessary information for the system. ‘Are all your vaccinations up to date as per the planets programme?’

‘Yep, all good there’ Q’tira replied, although she vaguely recalled that the doctor _might_ have come to their school one of the days that she’d snuck off down to the star port to get a look at the rare luxury galactic cruiser that was docking for a quick refuel before continuing onto its next destination. Murt had been so mad that she’d missed some school but eventually grinned at her once she apologized, told him it’d not happen again and excitedly began to tell him all about the cruiser and how beautiful it was. He was an ex-pilot after all and could relate to her appreciation of such a craft.   _She wasn’t totally sure if she had missed a Vac shot so best not to say anything in case it meant she wouldn’t be able to enlist._

‘Ok, that’s nearly it dearie, just need to allocate you your designation number and we’re all done’ as Moira scrolled onto the next screen to look up a designation number. According to the system, Relaxation Companions were assigned RC-…… _nope, that won’t do, she’s too young and innocent for that attention_ thought Moira…. _what else is available for that rank?_ ……as she scrolled through the system.   _PA-….all taken,   PC-….nope, wouldn’t do either……Personal Companion wasn’t much better than Relaxation Companion….hang on QT…what was that?  Query technician?_   Even Moira wasn’t sure that that meant…… _yes, that’d do…..perfect actually…..Cutie-1_ …. as Moira grinned assigning her QT-001, thinking that this suited the girl perfectly.

 

Some moments later they were wrapping things up with her enlistment details, Q’tira’s face held a broad smile as he took the enlistment documents the officer held out to her and thanked her for all her help. Moira smiled back at the younger woman shook her hand warmly and wished her welcome into the First Order as she told her to be back down at the dock in 7 cycles’ time to ship out to the processing station.

 _This birthday is turning out just perfectly_ …..as she almost skipped along in the direction of the cantina….she frowned slightly as she thought _telling Murt and Ana mightn’t be fun.…but oh well, she knew they’d eventually understand._

 


	5. Chapter 5

** Chapter 5  **

 

‘You did _WHAT_?’ Murt spluttered out, the half-chewed mouthful of Nerf steak, nearly hitting Q’tira squarely in the face.

‘I said I’ve joined the First Order and I’ll be shipping out in 5 cycles’ Q’tira muttered as she looked up at him through her eyelashes trying to gauge his reaction once the initial shock had worn off.

‘I can hear ok, what I’m finding trouble with is _WHY_?’. Murt’s face looked pale and Q’tira wondered if he was actually going to faint. Murt looked down at the table and shook his head slightly  ‘Listen, I know I haven’t always been the best parent to you, not like a real father, but I thought you were happy here, that we had a good thing going kiddo’ in the saddest and most dejected voice that Q’tira had ever heard from him.

She got up and rushed to the other side of the table, wrapping her arms around the man and burying her head in his light blonde hair. ‘Don’t say such things Murt, I’ve always been happy here, and as far as I’m concerned you’ve always been my father, what other man would take in an abandoned child and love it as much as you have, you are my family’ Q’tira lightly sniffed as she choked back the tears that were threatening to spill.  Murt sighed in her embrace but didn’t break the contact, he needed this, somehow he’d always known that this day would eventually come, she was too free-spirited to stick around this place forever and be content with this life. ‘Yeah I know kiddo, you’re my family too, I know it’s selfish of me but it’s…it’s just that I want to keep you safe…always’ Murt’s voice was choked with emotion. _He’d known something was off when she’d cooked him up a choice Nerf steak in the middle of the week_. ‘You have Murt, but it’s time for me to see and experience new things now, I’ll still miss you like crazy though  & worry that Smithie will try swindle you first chance he gets without me checking up on him’. Murt lightly snorted ‘yeah, he is a tricky one that one’ as he wrapped his arms about his daughter and squeezed her tight.

 

A few hours later General Hux groaned as he closed his eyes and rolled his head hearing several snaps and clicks from his neck as he did so. Having retired to his quarters on the Finalizer at the end of a particularly long and frustrating shift where Ren had proved quite troublesome he sat on his couch idly browsing through his messages and swirling a glass of Whyren’s Extra Reserve in his right hand.

BEEP…’New Message’ flashed on the datapad screen as he jolted awake, hissing slightly as his tabby cat Millicent dug her claws into one of his thighs having been equally startled by the sudden shift of her warm bed, the shrill noise and the empty glass falling to the durasteel.  _Maker…he must have fallen asleep on the couch again_....Placing Millicent gently onto the floor he picked up his datapad to see what was the latest minor emergency Ren had orchestrated just to annoy him.

Rubbing sleep from his eyes he read the message headline ‘New Staffing Profile’, _that was peculiar_ he hadn’t approved any staffing changes to his team recently. Scanning quickly though the message he read, New enlistment…Kuat… Rank - Relaxation Assistant…Female…19 standard years…… _wait What!…RELAXATION ASSISTANT….what the kriff was going on?_   He hadn’t requested this role to be filled and certainly didn’t want a Relaxation Assistant, whatever that role even entailed…he knew that some of the other higher ranking officers had personal companions within their teams but he had never really felt the inclination nor time to indulge in similar behaviour, instead preferring to patronize some exclusive establishments from time to time whenever his more basal instincts required appeasement.   _This had to be someone tooling with him...most probably Ren’s doing_ he thought as fought the rising annoyance.   _Well two can play that game_ , he’d play along for now thinking of the eventual enjoyment at the moment when Ren realised that his efforts to bait him had been in vain.   _If anyone needed a Relaxation Assistant it was that overgrown child!_ the General thought as he walked into his bedroom to try grab another few hours sleep before his next shift.

 

Q’tira felt her best friends’ heartbreak as she told her the same news that she’d told Murt the night before. They were both sitting in a booth at the back of the cantina sipping on some fruity smoothies that Murt had made them, discussing fashion ideas as they swiped through their datapads subscription information feeds on the latest fashion trends in the Core Worlds. The cantina was usually empty at this time of the day cycle and Q’tira had suggested that they meet here instead of their usual spot in the shopping district. She watched Ana’s face as a gambit of emotions sweep over her pretty face, amusement…. _She thinks I’m tooling with her_ Q’tira sighed internally….disbelief…..and finally the realisation that her friend was indeed telling her the truth of her plans. Ana’s eyes widened and glazed over as tears began to pool, she swallowed back a sob ‘I just knew you were planning something ridiculous Ti’ attempting to give her friend a smile but instead grimacing and crumbling into wrapping her into a bearhug, hiccuping as she struggled to control her breathing and letting fat tears spill onto the other girl's shoulder. Q’tira held her friend close and began to cry her own warm tears ‘I’m going to miss you so much Ana’ she whispered as she rubbed her hand soothingly up and down her back; her friend was always her grounding rock, her confidant, the closest thing to a sister she’d ever known. They held each other close for a long time as they both cried out their sadness at the coming separation and fear of the unknown next steps of their journey into adulthood.

Eventually they had released their anguish and calmed enough to unwrap from their tight embrace, both sighed deeply as they did so and smiling at each other with deep understanding. ‘ _Well....._ if you’re still adamant on heading off on some wild galactic adventure the very least I can do is help you with a makeover’ Ana grinned cheekily at her friend ‘I really think this hairstyle is you’ passing her datapad over for the other girl to see the model she was pointing at.  ‘Yeah, I love that! Let’s head up to the district right now’, Q’tira grabbed Ana’s hand to drag her friend up as she hopped to her feet. Murt watched the two friends excitedly head off and sighed sadly…. _it’s soon gonna be real quiet around here_.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Warm lips against her skin, playful nips and light moist licks as those lips branded a path across her collarbone and up along the curve of her neck to that sensitive spot just below her ear. Q’tira moaned softly as the sensation of warmth was followed by coolness as the deliverer of those kisses and licks blew cool breaths against the spots that had just been teased. Light stubble touched her skin as her mystery companion shifted his head to whisper in her ear ‘you’re so very beautiful my dear’, the warm huff of air on her earlobe as he spoke sending a bolt of desire through her body. A cool hand stroked along her belly, running up along her side exploring her curves and softly kneading her flesh until reaching the underside of her breast to stoke the sensitive flesh there. She struggled to open her eyes, the delicious heat of his body draped around hers and his adoration of her body making her feel lethargic and her body seem like it was in a dreamlike state. Heat pooled at her core as her lover cupped one breast while teasing its swollen rosy tip with light swirls and brushes of his fingertips. She felt his warm naked body shift as he rose slightly above her before dipping his head to her upper chest, tracing his tongue to taste the flesh there. His arousal was pressed firmly along the outside of her thigh as their legs and bodies interwined together, Q’tira moved her leg to rub along his hardened flesh causing him to lowly growl and grind against her leg. His hot mouth and lips traced the curve of her breast, stopping here and there to lightly nip at her goose-bumped flesh causing her to pant and arch her upper body towards him. He lightly pushed her back down onto the mattress before returning his attentions to her breast, clamping his hot mouth around its rosy peak sucking it into his mouth as his tongue laved and teased. The sensation shot right to her centre, with a throaty gasp she threaded her fingers through his hair to hold his head closer to her breast, eliciting an appreciative moan from him as her fingers gripped his locks tightly before she tugged his head upwards for a desperate and lusty kiss. As he pulled back from her lips and kissed along the shell of her ear, she struggled to crack open her heavy eyelids as she turned her face towards his, her breath hitched as she gazed into seagreen eyes before closing the gap between their mouths once again._

Morning sunlight streamed through the gap in her window screens warming her face as she slowly roused from a deep and comfortable sleep, stretching her arms over her head she yawned loudly. Flashes of last nights’ dream passed through her mind as she wakened bringing a flush to her cheeks and a small shy smile to her lips…. _stars, that one had felt so real_ ….

Today was planned to be special, spending the day with Murt and Ana before she shipped out to the First Order processing station this evening. Q’tira spent a little more time than usual in the shower, paying extra attention with the washing of her newly dyed hair and applying plant oils to make sure it was smooth and gleamed with shine. Showered and dressed she made her way into the kitchen and was surprised to find Murt already in the middle of cooking them breakfast, cursing lowly as the eggs he added to the pan began to splutter in the hot oil. Padding silently behind him she wrapped her arms around his back to give him a hug ‘so all I had to do was threaten to leave to get you to cook me breakfast huh?’ she said with a chuckle. ‘Oh baby girl you’re up....yeah, I thought I’d look after breakfast this morning for a change, make sure you got a good start to the day’ he said with a bashful grin ‘sit up now before it gets cold’.

Murt had totally surprised her and organised for one of his old smuggling buddies to look after the cantina for the day, so the rest of the day was spent relaxing with Murt and Ana reminiscing about some of the scrapes they’d gotten themselves into when both girls were younger. Ana had packed a picnic hamper so they took speeders up the hills surrounding the Kuat Yards complex to where the air was cleaner and the pace of life much slower. The sun shone in the sky and a gentle breeze cooled the forest as they traced their way to the spot they’d built camp during many of their sun season breaks. ‘I can’t believe that it’s still here’ Q’tira smiled as they came into the clearing they’d known so well, memories of camp fires late nights spent gossiping and giggling with her best friend came flooding back as they all explored their old camp site. ‘Oh look Ti….there’s a bird’s nest in the hollowed part of the tree where you used to hide our credits’. She walked over to where Ana was peering into a hidden depression between the junction of two large tree branches. Sure enough nestled in the hollow was a nest woven from twigs and dry leaves that contained four small bright blue eggs. Murt came up behind them and leaned over their heads to take a look ‘Don’t touch it girls or the mama won’t come back to them, it’s meant to be a sign of good karma to come ya know’ as he gave Q’tira a kiss on the cheek.

They’d spent hours just talking as they re-walked the old forest trails listening to the sounds of the forest wildlife and dry twigs snapping under their feet as they walked. Stomachs beginning to rumble they made their way to their favourite look-out spot on the rocky outcrop that overlooked the city, they spread warm blankets out on the ground to sit on and spread out the feast Ana had prepared for them. The starport was just visible in the distance the lights of the crafts coming and going from the docks looking almost like fireflies dancing as the sun began to lower in the sky. ‘I wish we could just stay here like this forever Ti’ Ana whispered as she hugged her friend, ‘let me in on some of that love’ Murt wrapped both girls into a warm bearlike hug and squeezed like he was never going to let them go. They stayed like that for some time while it grew darker around them, ‘come one guys, we’d better be getting back, don’t think you can keep me here by making us lose our way back though the forest now’ Q’tira teased as she brushed away a tear that had caught on the corner of her eye.

All three made their way down to the dock the recruiting officer had told Q’tira the transport to the processing station would be departing from. Picking her bag up from the locker storage they walked her to the dockside for a final farewell of hugs, tears and promises to keep in touch as often as possible. Murt hugged her tight to his chest and whispered in her ear ‘I love you baby girl and keep safe for me’ before quickly releasing her and slightly turning away to hide the threatening tears. Ignoring his attempt to hide his emotions Q’tira pulled him into a tight hug as she kissed him on the cheek ‘I will Murt and I love you too’, pulling Ana into the hug now as well ‘I’m gonna miss you both so, so much’. Soon it was time for Q’tira to board the transport, stopping on the loading ramp she turned back to wave goodbye one last time, Murt stood with his arm around Ana’s shoulder, both were waving to her while trying to hide their tears.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Q’tira made her way to the top of the ramp and looked into the hustle and bustle of the transport vessel, it was packed with new recruits some of whom were already seated but many still were not, instead looking for empty storage compartments to hold their bags or excitedly chatting to other recruits.  As she began to make her way down along the middle aisle of the transport to look for a free seat she heard someone call out her name. Further down the aisle she spotted Phileo waving her arms madly above her head and calling her name, ‘Hey Q’tira, I’ve kept you a seat!’.  ‘Thanks Phileo, you’re the best, glad to see you got in too, it’s nice to see a familiar face here’ as she quickly gave the brunette a welcoming hug.  They found some space in a nearby compartment for Q’tira’s bag and took their seats so they could continue chatting.

‘So did you get the Tech Specialist gig?’ ‘Yep, sure did, they bumped me up a grade from entry level too based on my experience’ Phileo proudly smiled, ‘How about you, what you get into Q’tira?’ 

‘Oh, that’s so great, I’m really chuffed for you Phileo.  Yeah, I got a position on General Hux’s team which was what I wanted, I’m to be his new Relaxation Assistant’ Q’tira watched as Phileo’s eyes widened slightly as a confused look briefly ghosted across her face before being quickly replaced with a huge smile and she said ‘that’s really great too, hopefully we’ll get assigned to the same base so we can be friends’.

‘So, another pretty good thing.…I also get to rename myself….I’ve been thinking of Tess, it kinda matches my designation number TS-3055, whatyda think?’  ‘I really like that name….Tess… it suits you so well’ both girls beamed at each other. 

‘How about you Q’tira, what’s your number then, changing anything?’  ‘Well I’m still gonna go by my own name, conveniently it matches….QT-001’.  Tess looked at the other girl’s face firstly wondering if she was tooling with her ‘seriously?’ as she began to titter with laughter.

Q’tira looked at her with amusement, Tess’s laughter really was infectious,  ‘yeah it’s true……what am I missing?’  ‘QT-001…..Cutie-1!’ as Tess’s eye began to water from laughing too hard.

Q’tira snorted as she joined in with the laughter herself….’oh Maker, howsit I never copped that one?’

‘Well they got that one right anyway…’cos .you are a little cutie-pie!’ Tess’s finger tapped her lightly on the nose ‘you’ll blow the socks off that general girl’.  Q’tira’s cheeks turned a pretty pink as she blushed and she mumbled lowly to herself  ‘here’s hoping…..’.

The noise level in the transport vessel began to quieten as recruitment personnel made their way throughout the vessel, ticking off recruit names against their lists. ‘Buckle up ladies, we’ll be taking off shortly’ the blonde employee winked at both girls as he confirmed their presence on board.

Shortly afterwards the transport lights dimmed as its engines roared to life and the vessel began to take off to depart the space dock.  ‘This is it….’ Tess said excitedly as she turned to the look at the girl beside her. She was concerned to see that Q’tira’s face was now an ashen white and her knuckles showed through the skin on her hands as she tightly gripped the seat in front. ‘Q’tira, you ok?’ Tess asked as she reached over to squeeze her hand.  ‘Yeah I think so…just haven’t flown all that much and the taking off part scares me a little’.  ‘Don’t worry, I’m right here with you’ Tess kept a hold of her hand and squeezed tight. ‘Thanks Tess’ she smiled weakly at the other girl.

The journey couldn’t pass quickly enough for Q’tira, it hadn’t been a smooth ride to the processing station which as it turned out was actually one of the flight hangars of a huge ship called Finalizer which was presently stationed not far from the asteroid field they’d had to navigate through. By the time their transport had docked and it was time to disembark Q’tiras’ stomach was turning summersaults and she was sure her face looked green with nausea.   _It’ll settle once I get off this bucket, I’ll be ok_   she thought to herself as Tess flashed her a quick look of concern as they both began to exit their seats to retrieve their bags before disembarking into the harshly light main hangar area.

‘Wow, this place is huge’ she whispered to Tess as they gave their eyes a few seconds to adjust to the brighter light conditions of the hangar and took in the hive of activity that it was. ‘Yeah, it’s totally rad’ Q’tira noticed how Tess’s eyes were transfixed as she roved over various areas of the hangar, lingering a little on the various consoles and screens scattered about the area.

The recruitment officers began to arrange all the new recruits into organised rows in one area of the hangar, ‘let’s try stick together Tess’ as the other girl nodded beside her ‘yeah’.  They were all told to stand to attention as some senior officers would be shortly inspecting some of the recruits that’d been shortlisted as potentials for specific military units.

 

General Hux usually didn’t waste his precious time with inspections of new recruits instead leaving the task to the head supervisor of his troop training Captain Phasma.  Today however his curiosity had gotten the better of him, he was still convinced that new recruit to his team was some elaborate prank than Ren had thought up and was determined he’d turn it back on that man-child.  As he swiftly marched down the main corridor to the turbolifts to flight hanger D-034 he instructed his assistant Lt. Mikata to com Captain Phasma that he would be in attendance today as wished to inspect the recruit to his team. As the turbolift door began to slide closed a black whirlwind rushed into the compartment    _Kylo Ren_ …Hux almost rolled his eyes…. _always with the drama_. 

‘Inspecting the new recruits General?’ Kylo smirked behind his mask as he saw Hux scowl slightly at his question.  He’d heard the thoughts of one of Hux’s officers 2 days ago in the mess hall and knew that Hux had a surprise new recruit.... _It was intriguing that Hux seemed to be unaware about it until the enlistment report was issued, he constantly droned on about how his team was made up of only the best the First Order had to offer, so Kylo just had to take a look for himself…..afterall it might be an opportunity to have some amusement at the general’s expense_.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 

Captain Phasma was already in the flight hangar speaking to the lead recruitment officer when General Hux and Commander Ren strode onto the viewing platform, she welcomed them with a curt nod and shouted loudly ‘Officers on desk!’ causing immediate silence in the hangar as troopers stood to attention.  Phasma joined her co-commanders, nodding to Ren ‘Commander’, and stood to attention in front of the General ‘the recruits are ready for inspection sir’.  ‘Very good Captain, proceed’.

Q’tira had watched the chrome clad officer march up to the back of the hangar and out of view, they’d been told that Captain Phasma was the training lead for the stromtrooper program.  Q’tira was fascinated by the Captain’s armour, it was immaculately fitted and so, so shiny… _must spend hours just polishing that sucker up…._

Recruit designation numbers were called out by the recruitment officers and they were brought up the viewing platform in groups of 6 recruits for inspection by the senior officers.  Q’tira heard her and Tess’s designation being called out, they both glanced at each other quizzically before falling out of formation and making their way to the recruitment officer.  ‘You’re to be inspected by officers of the First Orders’ senior command, don’t speak unless directed to and be respectful’ the officer instructed as he marched the group towards the viewing platform.  

Q’tira began to feel increasingly nervous the closer they got to the viewing platform and to distract herself cast her eyes down to watch her feet take one step after the other over the immaculately clean grilled floor panels.  At certain points she could see where the data and power cables ran underneath the panels like arteries running along the ship.  She faintly heard Tess whisper encouragingly ‘deep breaths Ti’ as she once again felt like she needed to hurl the mearge contents of her stomach.  

 

Captain Phasma read the designations of the next group of recruits, General Hux noted that his new assistant was to be presented in this group.  Glancing in their direction he observed that there was 3 females in the group, _a green-skinned humanoid who looked like she could wrestle him to the ground with one hand_ , and 2 young human females.  _One was a tall, lean boyish looking brunette who looked to be in her early twenties, not plain but not pretty either, bucking the typical sultry look favoured by higher ranking officers of the First Order.  The other looked younger, shorter and was sporting two-tone pink hair that made her look like someone had dipped her into a paint bucket like a mop! …._

The group finally came to stand to attention on the viewing platform and the recruitment officer called out their designation numbers in the order in which they stood left to right.  Q’tira looked up as she heard her number being said to see that the red-headed officer was staring directly at her with narrowed eyes.  Beside him stood a slightly taller _man_ (?) clothed entirely in black, a sinister looking mask obscuring his face giving no clue to his species, gender or age.

 _oh Stars, that’s General Hux!_... _and_ _he looks real good up close_ …. she felt her heart pound within her chest and could hear her blood roaring in her ears, the swirling in her stomach stepped up a notch or two and she felt a blush begin to warm her cheeks..  She also suddenly felt the beginnings of a headache dully throbbing at the base of her skull…. _oh, great_.. _as if things couldn’t get any worse.._

 

 _So it’s the pink headed one Ren has decided to try embarrass me with then….may as well play along and see how far he takes this_ Hux mused to himself as he regarded the girl.  _She looks young, no more than 20 if he had to guess, still had the plumpness of puppy-fat on various parts of her body which made her look even more childish.  She was a good deal shorter than him, the top of her head coming up no further than the bottom of his chin_.  _The pink hair looked ridicious_ and the General’s mouth curled into a frown as he cast his eyes over it and further onto her face.  _She had an almond shaped face, a little chubby looking but not wholly unattractive_ , he met her eyes as she glanced up but she quickly looked away when she saw him watching her….. _she really had unique eyes…they were a light cornflower blue with silverly flecks around the pupil making it look like she had starbursts in her eyes….beautiful_.  The General carefully schooled his expression as he reminded himself that Ren was likely trying to make a fool out of him and this girl was a willing accomplice to his plan. 

Q’tira vaguely registered that the dark-robed officer was speaking with Tess, his mask was fitted with a voice modulator so the voice sounded robotic but distinctly male.  He was saying something about the command shuttles weapon targeting system coding which Tess seemed to understand judging by her expression.  Suddenly he was towering over Q’tira, she almost had to tilt her head fully back to look up at his _face...mask_ , the action causing her headache to dart sharply in pain as another wave of nausua swept over her.

 ‘So you’re General Hux’s new assistant?’ his head cocked slightly to one side as he observed her.   ‘Yes sir, I’m QT-001’.   ‘hmmm…..and how will you serve your General and the First Order?’   ‘Any way that I can Sir’ Q’tira attempted to sound more positive than she felt right now and she almost imagined a ghost of a whisper in her mind say _interesting_.  The Commander was silent for a few seconds before his modulator seemed to stutter, or maybe he’scoffed, before his mask almost purred ‘very good QT-001, the General is in need of a _lot_ of relaxation’. 

Q’tira felt her herself blush right up to the roots of her hair and quickly glanced towards the General to see that he was glaring towards the other man, sheer anger showing on his face.  Just then Q’tira felt her stomach somersault and knew that she was going to be sick..She looked around in panic for a nearby bucket or container to be sick into, _the floor wasn’t an option, not with all those grilled panels, it’d likely take weeks to clean up that mess…._

 

 _Kriffing Ren…the man didn’t even need to try to be annoying!_ ,  the General studied Ren’s interaction with the girl, _she genuinely didn’t seem to recognise Ren which was odd.  In fact she’d reacted more strongly towards himself, coming across as shy and reticent._   After Ren’s infuriating comment he side-eyed the girl’s face and observed the furious blush that stained her cheeks before watching the blood drain from her face as she frantically looked around herself looking decidedly like she was going to empty the contents of her stomach onto the pristine clean floor….. _oh no…she Was going to hurl_ ….General Hux knew that there was nothing nearby to contain a mess like that, and being sick on the panelled floor was not an acceptable option, likely damaging the cables that ran underneath as well as being a nightmare to clean up.  The girl looked at him with wild panicked eyes before snatching Hux’s officers cap from his head and promptly retching the contents of her stomach into his cap.  The other taller girl held onto her shoulders for support and held back her hair….Hux blanched as he watched the scene unfold… _ughh absolutely disgusting… a perfectly good hat ruined_ …. _such insolence and disrespect deserved punishment_ …. _she did however attempt to protect his ship from the other non-acceptable option, clever girl….  ’_ Captain, 3 months basic training for this one I think…..somewhere inhospitable like Hoth would be suitable’ Hux barked out  turning his back to the recruits as he addressed Captain Phasma.  ‘Yes, Sir’ she replied before adding the relevant note to her datapad and dismissing the group of recruits.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

‘2 more laps, keep up the pace, no slacking off or it’ll be 10 more for the lot of you!’  the recruit unit trainer clipped out as the group looped the indoor circuit.  ‘QT-001, I’m feeling generous today…. finish in the first 25 and you’ll only have to do 30 press-ups!’  Q’tira rolled her eyes at this but gritted her teeth and quickened her pace somewhat to try keep up with the group ahead of her, the motivation of 30 versus the usual 200 press-ups spurning her on.  Six weeks into basic training and Ti’s lungs not longer burned like fire after the 20 laps fresh recruits were made run each morning, and she’d noticed the other changes in her body all the additional exercise was bringing.  She’d never been a particularly active person so those first few weeks had been gruelsome, still it was beginning to feel like she was getting somewhat fit and could see some muscle tone developing.

On the final lap Q’tira managed a burst of energy to make her finish in 25th place… _thank the stars for that_ she thought as she threw herself down onto one of the soft training mats arms thrown wide behind her head as she panted hard to regain her breath.  The unit trainer tapped her on the shoulder as he passed the group ‘well done QT-001, much improved, keep up the good work’.  ‘Thank you Sir’, Q’tira’s face lit up with a grin, she’d worked her socks off to get fit the last few weeks so it was good to know that it had been noticed.  While their unit trainer was a real hard ass at times, Q’tira had noticed that he was fair and seemed to encourage those recruits who were struggling a bit with a kind word here and there.  

Q’tira sighted that Tess’s group across the training arena looked to be nearly finishing up their one-to-one combat exercise and walked over to see how her friend had gotten on.  ‘Hey Tess, how’d this session go, you knock Cyrus on his ass yet?’ she waved and grinned. 

FN-5172 or Cyrus as he liked to be called amongst his friends was another recruit who they’d met on their second day at training camp.  He was good looking with thick brown curly hair and mischievous brown eyes that twinkled when he smiled, which was a lot as the man was a complete joker and a smart ass but had a kind streak which meant that both girls considered him their friend.  He took every opportunity possible to needle at Tess, Q’tira joked to her that Cyrus must have a thing for her and that’s why he gave her such special teasing attention, to which Tess usually just rolled her eyes and scoffed ‘yeah right’. 

‘Nah still working on it’ Tess replied as she playfully punched Cyrus on the shoulder.  _There’s definitely something there alright_ Q’tira thought as she watched the two interact.  ‘Meet you guys at our spot in the mess hall in a while, I’m gonna hit the shower’ Q’tira called over she shoulder as she left them to finish up their cool-down stretches.

 

‘Well the food today tasted better than usual’ Cyrus mumbled between mouthfuls.  ‘Ti’s been spending some time with the cooks and they’ve been swapping tips, ain’t that right Ti?’  Tess gently elbowed her friend in the ribs to get a response. .’What?...Umm, yeah they’re really nice ladies when you get to know them’.  ‘Daydreaming again Ti…wonder what or whom of….eh?’  Tess whispered and winked lewdly at her when Cyrus wasn’t looking.  Q’tira just rolled her eyes and playfully elbowed her friend back. 

Tess has been somewhat right though, Q’tira had spotted a visiting officer in the mess hall which had led her thoughts to wander to a certain General.  Specifically, she’d been thinking about the officer’s hat that she’d ordered over a week ago, they said it’d be delivered within the next 2 cycles.  The uniforms clerk had been really helpful and patient, assisting her with searching the uniform catalogues to find the exact hat she needed and helping her to place the order with the base Quartermaster.  She’d been saving her recruit allowance as well as earning a little extra credits by giving back and muscle massages to other recruits after long days of training to get enough credits together to replace the General’s hat.  Maker, remembering that day still made her cringe with embarrassment…. _all I’d wanted to do was make a good impression….talk about screwing that one up Ti….Maker knows what the General thinks of me now_ ….as she sighed to herself.  Hopefully replacing his hat would help and anyway it was the proper and polite thing to do, to replace someone’s property that’d you’d ruined.  She’d scrubbed and cleaned the hat that she’d snatched right off of General Hux’s head…. _still can’t believe I actually did that….kriff_ ……even though it had cleaned up fairly ok, the shape and feel of the hat didn’t seem the same as it first had so Q‘tira thought that it’d be best to get him a brand new one by way of an apology.  _Thinking back over it all he musta been real angry about what happened_ , she thought back to the way his face had drained of colour when the realisation that she was gonna spew hit him…. _great first impression Ti_ ……hopefully the new hat would help soften him a little before her training stint was finished and she might be able to redeem herself in his opinion. 

When Q’tira retruned to the quarters she shared with Tess that night, a black box has been delivered and was sitting on top of her bunk….must be the hat….she couldn’t help skipping across the room to open the box and look at the new hat.  It had been packaged well in lots of crinkly black wrapping and had a lovely new fresh smell…. _yeah, totally worth it_   she thought, happy that it looked so well.  She tried it on while looking into the mirror…. _he’ll soon be wearing something I was wearing_ as she grinned at herself in the mirror….. _it looks a helluva lot more sexier on him though_ …..the General looked real good in his uniform that day and Q’tira had spent many happy moments since mentally stripping him of his uniform and imagining what lay beneath.

The door to the quarters hissed open, Tess was back from her evening mechanics session  ‘Whatya doin’??’ as she took in Q’tira’s appearance  ‘nice hat…but you got a bit to go yet girl before you can start calling yourself a general’ she laughed.  ‘It’s a new one I’m gonna send to the General, to replace the one …you know I pucked up in’ even with Tess Ti still blushed a little when she thought back to that incident.  Tess snorted as she recalled the incident ‘yeah bet that was talked about for a while after….so you’ll certainly be remembered’.  ‘See that’s the thing, I had wanted to make a good impression, so I’m hoping that the new hat will help with that before I meet him again’.  ‘Good idea girl, you should send a little apology note too or something like that, just so he knows it’s from you…y’know?’.  ‘Hmmm….yeah I think I will Tess, thanks’ giving the girl a wink.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Convincing the base Quartermaster to include Q’tira’s package in the next off-base goods consignment and for transfer onto the General has proven a bit more troublesome than she’d first thought. It’d only costed her some few head and shoulder massages and running some of his errands around base.   Luckily the Quartermaster seemed to like her and trusted her word that the package was not going to cause him trouble when delivered aboard The Finalizer.  The package still had to go through the usual security screens and checks, he quirked his eyebrow at her with a slight upwards curl to the corner of his mouth when he saw the content of the package but said nothing, almost everyone on base had heard what had happened with the General aboard The Finalizer. 

5 standard cycles later and a system away General Hux returned to his darkened Quarters after a long and tedious shift involving fault rectification of technical systems…. _kriffing designers hadn’t consulted the radar technicians liked he’d ordered at the project commencement….more wasted time & workload for him to sort out!_  ‘Lights up 30%’, he began to shed his uniform jacket, popped open the top two buttons of the dress shirt underneath and rolled up the sleeves to his elbow..  His service droid had already laid out a simple meal and his usual glass of whiskey on the countertop of the food service area.  Hux’s eye was drawn to the object placed closeby, _this didn’t happen too often_ , it was a standard consignment crate, the type used for intra-vessel transfers.  Hux brushed his fingers lightly over the First Order symbol and decided to eat first before he opened it up. 

Appetite satiated Hux stood while his droid removed the dirty plate and began to clean up, he carried the crate and his glass of light amber coloured whiskey over to the couch and low table.  Taking a sip of the liquor he tasted the warm sweet burn as he swallowed, tilting his head back over the back of the couch to exhale while he closed his eyes for a moment to savour the moment.  Reaching into his shirt pocket for his tabac stims, he leaned forward again to regard the crate as he activated the stim and inhaled deeply….. _oh, that’s good_ ….whiskey and stims were some of the few only pleasures he still allowed himself, women he’d indulged in when he was a younger man of course but Supreme Leader was now so demanding of his time that he hadn’t spent a few hours of pleasure with a woman in some time and he knew that the women on the ship either lusted after his power or where afraid of it, two situations he personally found distasteful. 

Hux sat closer to the edge of the couch he knees touching the edge of the table as he slid the crate closer to him, checking the security clearance tag before he unclasped the locking mechanism to open the consignment.  Looking into the crate he saw a holodisc sitting atop an elegantly wrapped box with a black bow…he was intrigued…. _a gift?....he actually couldn’t remember when he’d received a real gift last…..maybe his graduation from the Academy when Admiral Sloane had gifted him with the mononuclear blade he wore every day concealed under his arm_ , his eyes flickering to it now as he recalled the memory.  Within the box meticiously wrapped in protective shimmer-tissue was a new uniform cap, he picked it up and  turned it in his hands to examine it _all the ranking ensigna were correct_.  The fit was a little tighter than snug but this was how he preferred it as they had a habit of getting looser with wear… _perfect_ … but he didn’t recall ordering one from his tailor recently.

Looking towards the door to his bedchamber as he heard it slide open, Millicent padded out before stretching her front paws forward in a deep bow arching her back in a deep stretch and giving him a greeting chirrup.  ‘Well, good evening to you too Millie, soooo kind of you to join me’ he drawled…no matter how many times he warned her that she was not to get up on his bed he just knew that there would be a warm spot right next to where he slept.  Patting the seat of the couch he called Millie to join him, she nimbly jumped up to a spot beside him purring and lightly bumping her head against his arm to try grab his attention for some petting.  Hux complied by idly scratching the spot she loved underneath her chin and was rewarded by even deeper purring.  Placing the hat back on the tabletop, he reached into the crate once more to retrieve the holodisc which he synced to the integrated displayer of his table.  The standard holo-image of the First Order symbol for all internal communications briefly glowed blue before the image of what appeared to be a female Stormtrooper appeared and began to speak, she seemed to be shy casting her eyes down a lot and  rarely looking at the recorder full on.  Leaning forward to look more closely at the familiar-looking young woman, Hux’s mouth drew into a firm line as he deduced that she wasn’t a Stormtrooper at all but instead was his new team member.  _She looked different though_ , despite the small image of her that was displayed Hux could see that her face and body had lost some of the puppy fat that she had when presented on The Finalizer.  _Her hair wasn’t quite as long either, no doubt been cut in to a more practical length for training, hopefully she’d changed it from that darned awful pink colour…!_ He was shaken from his musings by Millie suddenly jumping up onto the table and swiping at the holo-image before sitting down beside it almost as if she was watching and listening to the girl speak…… _strange, she usually didn’t take well to people she wasn’t familiar with and even now was still a little jumpy when Mikita his assistant appeared in his quarters_.  ‘What do you think Millie  huh?’  Millicent turned her head towards him blinked at him twice with large pupiled eyes before once again directing her attention to the small image.  ‘Message back to start’, he had missed some of what the girl was saying while he was musing. 

‘Hello General Hux Sir.  I don’t know if you might remember me…..QT-001, I was briefly on The Finalizer with a new recruit group a few weeks back.  Beautiful ship by the way, most orderly and cleanest that I’ve ever seen anyway’. (Hux lightly snorted as he thought back to what had almost transpired that day….almost wasn’t).  

‘Sir, I just wanted to apologize for my behaviour that day, I feel dreadful about it still….but Sir, your ship was so nice and clean and I didn’t want to damage anything, and their didn’t seem to be any other option at the time’….(the girl was speaking faster now and looked like she might start to cry.  Sighing, Hux too had to concede that she had made the most sensible decision to avoid damage to his vessel despite the embarrassment it had caused him.  Taking a deeper breathe presumably to refocus herself the girl continued). 

‘I hope that you’ll accept my gift Sir, I just wanted to try out some of the situation right again.  I guessed the size so I hope the size is suitable, if not I can switch it for the correct size if you let me know Sir.  I am very sorry about it all General Hux Sir, I’m really hoping that you’ll find it in yourself to forgive my behaviour’.  (The girl was now looking right into the recorder, a bright eager expression on her face).

‘I’d like to thank you for this opportunity of basic training Sir, I’ve already learnt so much and met a lot of interesting people here, it’s pushed me and made me grow in new ways that I hadn’t encountered before’.  (Hux almost grinned at that, he personally had a huge input in designing the basic training programme while he was still a young Lieutenant).  ‘Apologies for taking up your time Sir but I did want you to be aware that I was sincerely sorry for everything and I hope that this goes someway towards making amends and that you’ll still afford me the opportunity to join your team on board The Finalizer Sir.  Goodbye General Hux Sir’.   (before the image faded back to the First Order Symbol again).

 

Contemplating the message as he swirled his glass of whiskey before raising it to his lips, Hux decided that he would ask Cpt. Phasma to find out more about the girl under her next progress visit to the training base, if his own schedule allowed perhaps he may even fit in a brief visit himself.  She’d captured his interest, she appeared shy but yet capable of boldness of action and he could see the hint of strong conviction in her eyes when she’d apologized towards the end of the message.  Recalling the latest update on recruit training progress he’d noted that her overall performance had indeed improved significantly since the beginning of the training program, and the training instructors always commented on her willingness of effort despite some of her limitations on overall fitness and physical size.  Rarely did Hux give others second chances…but this girl appeared to be trying to make amends with him and showed potential for service within the First Order.  _He’d allow her more time to see what transpired_ he thought as he made his way to his bedchamber to retire for some sleep before his next shift.

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

General Hux sighed as he leant back into his office chair and pinched his eyebrows together to release some of the tension he could feel building there, his stomach growled loudly and ached a little from emptiness.  Looking towards the chrono sitting on a nearby shelf he realised that more time has traversed than he’d thought.  He’d been reviewing material order manifestos for Supreme Leader Snokes’ new weapon project and had been so deeply engrossed in the task that he’d missed the mid-cycle meal service, _ah well a stim would have to do again_.  He’d just finished injecting the stim into his forearm when his door comm buzzed, _that should be Captain Phasma for their scheduled meeting._   Glancing at the door cam screen to confirm it was indeed his second-in-command, he allowed her entry ‘Right on time Captain, you may report’ as he nodded a welcome.  ‘General’ Phasma nodded in response and proceeded to open a number of reports on the holoscreen on an adjacent wall panel as she updated General Hux with the cycles’ status report. 

‘Very good Captain, no major deviances then and all appears on timelines target’ Hux tilted his head away from the holoscreen.  ‘Correct Sir’.  ‘When are you due to check the latest batch of recruit evaluations Captain?’.  ‘My team and I depart for Hoth in 3 cycles time Sir’.  ’Good, good….while you’re there can you make some informal enquiries about my appointed assistant…the usual… who she associates with, what her general behaviour is like during non-training time…that sort of thing’ Hux busied himself sorting the manifestos scattered over his desk back into the open file before placing it back into his desk drawer.  ‘Yes Sir, can I ask she to be considered a person-of-interest?’  ‘Not currently Captain, I am however interested in the calibre of person joining my direct staff’ Hux stood up and walked over to the stand where his greatcoat was hanging.  The captain turned her head to track his movement ‘Of course General, it will be done’.  ‘Oh and Captain I’ll trust in your usual level of discretion’  ‘Yes Sir’ as they both exited his office and headed for the bridge.

 

Q’tira leant in and lifted the lid off the pot of steaming liquid…..’hmmm…smells so good Sheri, what is it ?’.  ‘Stock base child….we’re due a visit from some higher ups real soon & they get the special treatment’ as she tossed in a handful of chopped flavour plants.  ‘See…we make this stock base and then we can use it as the starting point for a number of dishes…stews…soups…that sort of thing’.  ‘I’m just about to start another batch, if you want to help me you can starting skinning that ghourd there’.  ‘No problem Sheri’ Q’tira rolled up her tunic sleeves before putting on one of the nearby aprons and selecting a knife.  ‘So higher-ups huh….who would that be usually?’ Q’tira had skinned the large vegetable and began to cut it up into large chunks.  ‘Oh, could be just about anyone dearie from a lieutenant right up to a general.  All I know is right before they land here we get a delivery of some top notch produce….just look at that starfruit there!’.  Q’tira hummed and nodded absent mindily, her thoughts were on other things, namely if a certain redhead would be soon on base.

 

A couple of days later Q’tira walked up to the entrance of training hall 2, she’d developed the habit of getting there earlier than the first training shift so she could limber up with some stretching exercises before sparring with one of the training droids.  A load thump and metal clang reverberated around the usually empty hall, a tall blonde figure was surrounded by a number of training droids and had just slammed one into the padded durasteel wall.  At the sound of the entrance door sliding shut, the woman looked over her shoulder and nodded to Q’tira by way of a greeting.  ‘Good morning’ Q’tira called as she pulled one of the mats from the stack onto the floor and started her stretch routine whilst casually observing the fight in the far corner of the hall.  Warmed up Q’tira got two hydration bottles from the cabinet and a towel before strolling over towards the woman who was now rounding on the last remaining droid.  ‘You’re really good’…. the blonde woman flicked her eye blue eyes towards Q’tira and smirked as she dodged a jab from the droid before sweeping her feet underneath it and knocking it to the ground.  Q’tira handed her the towel and one of the bottles, ‘Thanks, I noticed you come in’ she said before taking a long slug of the hydration fluid.  ‘Yeah, I like to get here early while it’s quiet before the training sessions start. I haven’t noticed you around before, I’m QT-001’ Q’tira extended her hand for a handshake.  ‘Glad to meet you QT-001, I’m BN-2005. Care to spar?, training with droids can get a bit predictable after a while’.  ‘Deal, if you show me how to do that underkick move I saw you do’.  ‘Sure, now take your stance’ BN-2005 grinned as she planted her feet solidly and crouched low into a fighting stance. 

Recruits had begun to filter into the training hall when the girls decided to halt their sparring session and grabbed fresh towels to wipe their sweaty faces and necks.  During their sparring Q’tira had learned that the tall blonde was named Gwen and was part of the Stormtrooper division.  ‘I’m gonna head down to the mess hall for some caf and a breakfast muffin Gwen, wanna join me?’ Q’tira walked over to her training sac and put on her boots.  ‘Yes, that would be nice QT-001, thank you’ as she did likewise and deposited her soiled towel in the laundry chute.  ‘Sure, anytime newbie’ Q’tira winked as she flashed a grin.

 

‘Take a muffin from the back of the pile, that’s always where the warmest ones are. I help out a bit in the kitchen and they always put the ones right out from the oven towards the back’.  ‘ok, good to know’ BN-2005 reached in for a purple coloured muffin while Q’tira filled 2 mugs of kaf, placed them on the tray she picked up and headed towards a table in the corner that already had a few people sitting at it.  ‘Morning everyone, brought a new friend to breakfast’ Q’tira chirped to the group as she and BN-2005 took a seat, the brown-haired male sliding over on the bench to give them some room  ‘Hey ‘Ti, who’s your friend?’ as he appraised BN-2005.  Q’tira playfully poked him in the ribs ‘Don’t mind FN-5172, he’s a complete manslut…but harmless, ain’t that right hunny?’.  Cyrus supressed a laugh, snorting into his bowl of oatmeal.  Introductions were quickly made around the table and the group briefly discussed their schedules for that day.  When they learned that BN-2005 was on transfer from The Finalizer Tess had loads of questions about the flight deck crews and the command shuttle, some of which BN-2005 was able to answer.  Cyrus took it as an opportunity to tease Q’tira instead asking BN-2005 if General Hux was often visible around the ship or just confined himself to the bridge.  Pointedly looking towards Q’tira and waggling his eyebrows he said ‘I’m only asking ‘cos someone’s a big fangirl of the general, and I want to suss out what her chances are like…..’.  Q’tira’s face and neck burned a bright red as she suddenly found her mug of caf the most interesting thing at their table, knowing that a response would only provoke Cyrus to tease her more. 

After a while the others finished up their breakfast & rushed off to their morning assignments leaving Q’tira and BN-2005 to finish eating.  ‘So have you ever met General Hux BN-2005?’  ‘Yes I’ve worked with his team in the past & we’re spoken’  ‘Oh, yeah, so what’s he like?’ Q’tira leaned forward eagerly with bright round eyes.  ‘Well he didn’t say very much, but I’ve learnt that he values loyalty, discretion and hard work’.  _Truthfully, not exactly the kind of information that she was hoping Gwen would tell her_ but she filed it away in the brain all the same.  ‘Hmmm, guess it’s not that easy to know who to trust when you’re a high up officer huh?’  BN-2005 nodded and hummed in reply.  ‘I’m meant to be joining his team when my training finishes, I’m really excited about that but a little worried too..’.  ‘I’m sure you’ll do fine QT-001, General Hux may be strict but he comes across to the troops as fair, and from what I hear is a good mentor to his team,  you’re good’  Gwen lightly patted Q’tiras’ forearm in reassurance.

 


End file.
